


A Personal Question

by chinquix, Ellimac, FatalCookies



Series: Sun and Ash [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 03:04:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5851624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinquix/pseuds/chinquix, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellimac/pseuds/Ellimac, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatalCookies/pseuds/FatalCookies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose has a question for Pearl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Personal Question

“Pearl? Can I ask you a personal question?”

Pearl, seated on Rose’s floor with her legs curled neatly underneath herself, looked up from her book. They had been reading together in companionable silence, Rose from an ancient volume about witchcraft and Pearl from a book about the constellations, but now that Pearl looked, she could see that Rose was on the same page she had been when she first started reading. Clearly, her mind was elsewhere tonight.

“Of course,” Pearl said. “What is it?”

“Well—it may not be personal at all. To be honest, I’m not sure.” Rose closed her book. “It’s just something I’ve been wondering about.”

“Ask away.” Pearl watched her curiously.

“Well… you’re a vampire. But you only seem to spend your nights either here, or at the library—or in your own home. I was wondering when you… I mean, if you…” Rose hesitated. “That is to say—do you not need to drink blood?”

Ah. That question. Pearl had been wondering when it was coming, or if it was coming at all. Drinking blood was a large part of vampire lore, after all.

“You don’t have to answer,” Rose said quickly, taking Pearl’s hesitation for reluctance. “I was just curious. If you’d rather not say—”

“No, no—it’s all right.” Pearl dropped her gaze. “The truth is… technically, no, vampires don’t need to drink blood. Not to survive.”

“Oh.” Rose paused. “I thought… if perhaps spending time with me was keeping you from, um, feeding…” She slid from the bed onto the floor, and Pearl looked up at her, suddenly very aware of how exposed her neck was, and how her faint blush colored her cheeks a delicious pink.

Pearl swallowed. “Rose—please don’t.”

Rose pulled back immediately. “I’m sorry. Was that too forward? I just thought—if you wanted—”

“I don’t. It’s not—it’s nothing to do with you.” Pearl swallowed, all too aware of the blood pumping beneath Rose’s skin. “I don’t drink blood. I haven’t in—in a very long time.”

Rose looked at her for a moment, then stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Pearl watched her go, feeling slightly off-balance. What on earth did that mean? Had she accidentally offended her in some way? Pearl got to her feet, and had half-made up her mind to go after her when Rose returned. Immediately, Pearl saw why she had left, and burst into a fit of giggles.

“You didn’t have to go and put on a turtleneck,” she said, between giggles. “Though I appreciate the thought.”

Rose smiled warmly. “I don’t mind. It’s a winter night, after all. I don’t feel the cold as much as some do, but it certainly can’t hurt to dress warmly. And…” Her smile turned sheepish. “I think I owe you a little modesty, after so wantonly offering myself to you.”

The blush that colored her cheeks was deeper this time. Pearl tried to ignore it.

“Thank you,” she said.

Rose took a few steps closer, clearly afraid to make Pearl uncomfortable again. Pearl closed the distance between them to a more reasonable conversation distance.

“So,” Rose said softly. “If you don’t mind continuing in the vein of personal questions—oh—” She smiled. “Vein. No pun intended, I promise.”

Pearl smiled at the wordplay, but she could guess where this was going. “You want to know why I don’t drink blood, right?”

“If it’s not too forward. Of course, if it is, you don’t have to answer.”

“I don’t mind.” But this, too, was faintly embarrassing. Not that it was exactly a secret, but, well… “I find the act of drinking blood… well, repugnant, to be frank.”

“Repugnant?”

“Terribly so. I suppose I must have eaten when I was a human, but since I was turned I just find the act of… of ingesting anything to be repulsive. I suppose it goes against my instincts not to drink it, but there are some things stronger than instincts. The taste and feel of it in my mouth, on my tongue, going down my throat, ugh—” She stopped. “I’m… so sorry. That’s probably more than you wanted to know.”

But Rose smiled. “Don’t worry. I don’t find the act of drinking blood that appealing, either.”

“I should hope not,” Pearl said with a sheepish smile.

“Pearl, I—” Rose paused. “Do you mind if I touch you?”

Pearl shook her head. “Not at all.”

Rose closed the distance between them, this time to a matter of inches. She set her hands on Pearl’s shoulders and smiled at her.

“Pearl,” she said again, “I think you’re one of the most enchanting people I’ve ever met. Whether or not you think drinking blood is disgusting.”

Pearl, being a vampire, could not blush. Nevertheless, her face felt warm, and she pressed her face into Rose’s shoulder, thinking to hide it.

“Thank you,” she mumbled. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Rose’s arms slid around her shoulders, holding her close. “I’ll say it as many times as you like.”

Pearl smiled. “Once is enough.”

Moonlight streamed in through the window, lighting up the small room. Their books lay forgotten on the floor. Later, Pearl would take them back to the library where they belonged, but for now, wrapped up in Rose’s arms with her face to Rose’s shoulder, taking in the faintly earthy smell of her and feeling, somehow, bathed in harmless sunlight simply by being close to her—for now, there were more important things.

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted on Tumblr, and can be found [here.](http://timelordsandkittens.tumblr.com/post/132195378623/pearl-can-i-ask-you-a-personal-question-pearl)


End file.
